People in the area of Sriperumbudur are left in shock after six residents of the locality, including a father and his two sons, died after inhaling toxic gas from a septic tank.

Krishnamoorthy (55), who accidentally fell in the tank, died first, followed by five people, including his two sons Kannan (28) and Karthik (25), who went inside the tank to rescue him. The other victims have been identified as Paramasivam (32), Saurabh (28), and Lakshmikanth (23), all of them his tenants who worked in a local shop. On Tuesday morning, Krishnamoorthy had called labourers to clean up the septic tank in his property. When the workers were away to dispose of the waste, Krishnamoorthy had leaned in to check if the tank had been cleaned properly when he was engulfed by the toxic fumes emanating from the tank and fell into it screaming.

A senior police officer reported, “Hearing his father’s screams, Kannan ran out of the shop and entered the tank but did not return. His mother Lakshmi, who was there at the scene, cried for help and then her youngest son Karthik jumped into the tank and he also did not return.” Following this, the three other victims jumped in to rescue the trio, but none of them came out. Their bodies were taken out by the fire personnel one after another.